Upcoming Proposal for a Polkadot Advertising Campaign via HypeLab, the premier web3 ad network

Preface: As we present this proposal, we want to acknowledge the issues identified in recent Polkadot marketing activities. The $37M spent earlier this year, although well-intentioned, did not deliver the anticipated results, with funds directed towards inefficient channels and high-cost, low-return initiatives. We recognize the need for a more effective and transparent approach. You can read our full thoughts on this issue: here.

At HypeLab, we focus on data-driven, targeted advertising that directly connects with the web3 community. Below, we outline an alternative approach that we believe will foster more meaningful engagement and growth.

 

Full proposal available here

 

Summary:

We are seeking the Polkadot Community’s support to finance a 3-month advertising campaign via HypeLab, a web3 advertising network. Our aim is to reinforce Polkadot's narrative to drive further user growth within the ecosystem, through brand awareness and performance marketing efforts.

 

About HypeLab:

HypeLab is the fastest-growing web3 ad network, helping advertisers reach web3 audiences via programmatic ads. HypeLab has a proven track record of success having worked with hundreds of top web3 companies/projects to assist them in acquiring users at scale.

We’ve run millions of dollars in ad budgets for clients like Paypal, Metamask, Uniswap, Moonbeam, ThorChain, MagicEden, 1inch, Quicknode, Bitrefill, Aleo, Immutable, Cow Swap, Bittrex, and hundreds more. Many are repeating clients and rely on HypeLab as their exclusive web3 programmatic advertising partner.

 

Campaign Overview:

The campaign will span 3 months with a fixed budget of $60,000 per month, totaling $180,000.

With a focus on reaching all key segments within the crypto space, we will strategically distribute the Polkadot brand across many of the top publishing properties in web3 such as CoinGecko, Etherscan, Unchained Crypto, QuickSwap, Chainlist, The Defiant, and hundreds more. We aim to not only enhance Polkadot's visibility but also boost exposure for pivotal projects within its ecosystem, such as: Manta Network, Moonbeam, PeaQ, Phala, Astar, and others.

The core Polkadot Brand Awareness campaign will run for a three-month period. Alongside this, we will launch four smaller campaigns at regular intervals, each highlighting a different narrative. The structure is as follows:

Ad Formats:

We will be running two formats for these campaigns:

1) Native: Highly customizable ads that allow us to match the look and feel of an ad with the look and feel of a given publishers website

• Includes: Headline, Body, CTA text

2) Display: Static placements that typically display image assets.

• More examples of these formats can be found in our Media Kit.

Ecosystem Fit:

HypeLab helps ecosystems acquire high value crypto users & helps projects within that ecosystem become economically independent by monetizing their digital inventory. We have unprecedented reach in ecosystems like Ethereum, Polygon, and Base - and believe that Polkadot is a compelling expansion target. Our ecosystem expansion usually revolves around a 3-step approach:

1) Build Demand: HypeLab builds a book-of-business either directly with the ecosystem or with projects within to secure advertising budget. This budget is then used to attract net new users into the target ecosystem through HypeLab’s existing publishing partners, which primarily consist of core projects/properties already prolific in other ecosystems.

NET Outcome: New User Acquisition for Polkadot.

2) Onboard Supply: HypeLab identifies and onboards core projects within the ecosystem to become Publishers. Using HypeLab, these projects have an opportunity to monetize their inventory, opening up a new revenue stream that may help them on their path to become economically independent.

NET Outcome: Opportunity for Polkadot projects to monetize and build real enterprises.

3) Strengthen Network: Once the network reaches sufficient scale (e.g. demand from Advertisers to acquire users & supply of high-quality inventory from Publishers), the network naturally becomes an economic flywheel. At this point, HypeLab commits to investing resources to build on-chain capabilities unique to target ecosystems to help improve campaign performance and increase monetization.

NET Outcome: The creation of an Ad Network specifically serving the Polkadot ecosystem.

 

Target Audience & Reach:

HypeLab boasts a vast global presence, with the ability to serve over 1 billion ad impressions monthly, across top-tier ad inventory in web3. Up to 60% of users who see HypeLab ads view them from browsers with wallets installed. Up to 15% of our traffic originates from users actively using dApps, based on analysis of their connected wallets. Among millions of wallet-connected users accessible through the HypeLab network:

• 20% use DeFi
• 6% have deployed smart contracts
• 45% own non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
• 60% use multiple EVM chains On average wallet-connected users interact with our ads 2x as often

 

Contextual & Onchain Relevance:

HypeLab ML models are trained to match the most relevant ad content to the most relevant end-user. We do this either through on-chain analysis where wallet information is available or through contextual targeting.

Onchain targeting allows us to personalize ads (and achieve better performance) based on what we know about the end-user: Which chains do they use? What assets do they hold? What kinds of transactions have they made? Are they a DeFi trader? An NFT collector? And more..

Our Top user categories by on-chain activities are as follows: 

1. DEX trader
2. NFT owner
3. Loan collateral supplier
4. Borrower
5. Developer

Contextual targeting allows us to render ads in the most relevant places (e.g. token price pages on Coingecko, articles on The Defiant, transaction pages on Etherscan, etc.).

Examples of Publishers on the HypeLab network:

CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko, GeckoTerminal, Etherscan, Unchained Crypto, BeInCrypto, QuickSwap, The Defiant, ChainList, CryptoSlate, SolanaFM, +hundreds more web3-specific properties & dApp

 

Cost Breakdown: 

We are requesting ~40,000 DOT/ $180,000 USD. The advertising budget will be allocated strategically across several campaigns as detailed in the Campaign Overview.

The budget will be spent programmatically through real-time bidding auctions. HypeLab leverages dynamic CPM bidding to maximize ROI on advertising budget, evaluating the quality of each user on a per impression basis.

Costs associated with campaign planning, creative design, active campaign management, and reporting will be incurred by HypeLab.

 

Polkadot Community Input:

We eagerly invite feedback from the community and pledge to prioritize transparency and responsiveness in our communications. We encourage you to engage with us and share your thoughts.